Case Studies

Case Study: The Rise and Collapse of CaaStle (P180) — Christine Hunsicker’s $350M Fraud

Case Study: The Rise and Collapse of CaaStle (P180) — Christine Hunsicker’s $350M Fraud

Executive Summary Christine Hunsicker, a once-celebrated fashion-tech entrepreneur and founder of Gwynnie Bee (later CaaStle and P180), orchestrated one of the most audacious startup frauds of the decade. By allegedly forging financial documents, inflating revenue, and fabricating bank balances, Hunsicker misled investors, board members, and financial institutions into pumping over

Builder.ai - AI Hype, Round‑Tripping, and Collapse of a $1.5B Unicorn

Builder.ai - AI Hype, Round‑Tripping, and Collapse of a $1.5B Unicorn

Once valued at $1.3–$1.5 billion, UK-based Builder.ai promised to revolutionize app development using AI-powered automation. Internal investigations and media exposés from 2024 revealed fraudulent accounting practices, circular billing with partner VerSe Innovation, and significant overstatements of revenue. By mid-2025, the company was insolvent, underwent layoffs of

Unicoin, Inc - The $100M Crypto Fraud That Never Launched

Unicoin, Inc - The $100M Crypto Fraud That Never Launched

Unicoin, a flashy crypto startup founded in New York, marketed a token called the “Unicoin” as asset-backed and SEC‑compliant, promising wildly high returns. From February 2022 through early 2025, Unicoin raised over $100M via "Unicoin Rights Certificates"—securities sold to more than 5,000 investors. The SEC’

YouPlus: Artificial Intelligence Illusion & $6.4M Fraud by Shaukat Shamim

YouPlus: Artificial Intelligence Illusion & $6.4M Fraud by Shaukat Shamim

YouPlus, founded in Silicon Valley in 2013 by Shaukat Shamim, claimed to have developed advanced AI tools capable of analyzing online video content for market insights. In reality, the work was done manually by humans in India, while Shamim exaggerated customer counts and revenue. Between 2018 and 2019, he raised

Frank - The JPMorgan $175M Mistake by Charlie Javice

Frank - The JPMorgan $175M Mistake by Charlie Javice

Charlie Javice’s fintech startup Frank claimed to democratize student aid applications. In 2021, JPMorgan Chase acquired the company for $175 million, based on a user base of 4.25 million. However, the company only had around 300,000 users—most of the rest were fabricated using purchased email lists.

Aspiration Partners - The $145M Fintech Fraud by Co‑Founder Joseph Sanberg

Aspiration Partners - The $145M Fintech Fraud by Co‑Founder Joseph Sanberg

Aspiration, a climate-focused fintech startup pioneering "ethical banking," has seen explosive growth and garnered star-studded backing. In 2020–2021, co-founder Joseph Sanberg and board member Ibrahim AlHusseini allegedly obtained two major investor loans ($55M and $145M) by misrepresenting AlHusseini’s financial capacity through the use of fictitious documents.

Ozy Media: Celebrity-backed Media Startup’s $70M Fraud Collapse

Ozy Media: Celebrity-backed Media Startup’s $70M Fraud Collapse

Ozy Media, co-founded by Carlos Watson and Samir Rao in 2013, built a narrative of a millennial-focused, multi-channel media empire. They raised over $70M from luminaries like Laurene Powell Jobs and Marc Lasry. In reality, the founders fabricated financial projections, impersonated executives (notably a fake YouTube official to Goldman Sachs)